Maybe It is all a big set up, sometimes when you look for a true leader, you test him with some difficult situation... When I think of it, the ship, the allspark, ratchet, sari... maybe it is all a big prophecy that was "plotted" long ago. Why would prime, be actually working on space bridges... to form up a team that work togetter, without him not knowing it... Magnus told him not to be a hero, for it was not in his programing... If i was told this same thing, I would gladly want to prove him wrong by showing him what I can or can't do...

Well then again, the allspark found them... the allspark is...after all the allspark... maybe it planned everything... after all... when sari asked the spark why it chose her we could see that her dna was matching...

Probably. Although I could get behind the prophecy thing too. Maybe them going to the spider planet was part of the chain of events to bring everything to one final point. Although I'd hope Black Arachnia gets cured by the end of it though or she'd have been seriously screwed by it all.
Vector Sigma directed events in The Rebirth so I could see the Allspark maybe doing that too. Perhaps it's even linked to Ultra Magnus' hammer.

I think the most we are ever going to see about it is what we saw in Blackarachnia's debut, and the couple of episodes since focusing on the Optimus / Sentinel relationship. Probably following the mission, both were threatened with being put out of the Elite Guard, and since Sentinel refused to own up, Optimus (who really beat himself up over it) probably took the whole blame himself.

I would personally love to see a "First Mission" episode which shows how all five Autobots first met. That is the logical final flashback episode, although I don't know exactly how you would fit it around a larger plot.

It was because he took the blame for going to a planet that was off limits. The planet where Elita "died".

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I doubt he took the entire blame for the whole incident. For Elita-1's death, maybe, since he was right there and couldn't do anything to save her. But I'm sure he stated that it wasn't his idea that they went to that planet in the first place (it was Sentinel's idea, after all). Chances are, Sentinel lied about the whole incident, dumping the blame on Optimus and that's why Optimus was barred from joining the Elite Guard.

*snip*
I would personally love to see a "First Mission" episode which shows how all five Autobots first met. That is the logical final flashback episode, although I don't know exactly how you would fit it around a larger plot.

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Ooo, yesh. ^^

But yeah. I'm sure it had something to do with Sentinel and the Elita-1 incident.

you dont know when he was kicked out
chances are if your an elite bot then you have made the grade past academy
it is possible to be kicked out after you have passed
i personally think he made the grade then when his moment to shine came he chickened out?

I kinda wonder whether Optimus willingly also allowed (perhaps even thought he deserved) himself to be "washed-out" of the academy due to his own feelings of guilt and failure to save Elita-1 and the whole off-limits spider planet incident.

Optimus was NEVER in the Elite Guard. He was in the Academy, which is like saying I'm a Marine when I've just started boot camp. One does not equal the other until completion.

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You're semi-correct, but not completely. In episode 1 Ratchet asked Optimus "How did an academy bot end up in a broken down space bridge repair crew", to which he replied he trained in the academy. We were all under the impression he wasn't in the elite guard. But then, in episode 19 (Mission accomplished) Sentinel bribed Optimus by saying "If you keep quiet about the Decepticons on this planet, I could even get you reinstated in the Elite Guard"

So he might've been in the Elite Guard and kicked out later. Either way I've been dying for an episode to explain it. We don't know too much about Optimus' past.